BMW X4 vs Porsche Macan

The BMW X4 is a sporty SUV designed to upstage the Porsche Macan. It'll have to be hugely fast, agile and classy to succeed...

What Car? team

23 Feb 2016 08:00 | Last updated: 14 Jun 2018 00:03

What are they like inside?

The X4 has more head and leg room up front, but tall adults will be comfortable in both cars. There’s a good range of driver’s seat adjustment in both, too, although the Macan benefits from standard eight-way electric seats to make the job a bit easier. The Porsche’s front passenger gets six-way manual adjustment, whereas both of the X4’s front seats have to be adjusted manually.

Moving to the back seats, two tall adults will be happy with leg and head room in the X4. The same passengers will find their knees touching the backs of the front seats in the Macan, and while head room is good, access is more difficult than in the X4.

Official figures suggest that the X4 and Macan have identically sized boots, but in reality the latter’s is more practical. It has the wider opening and its load bay is slightly longer and deeper than the X4’s, which means bulky items can be loaded and stored more easily. Even so, both will take a couple of large pushchairs or a set of golf clubs. When more space is needed, both have rear seats that split 40/20/40 and fold flat.

Porsche interiors tend to be among the best in the business, and the Macan’s doesn’t disappoint. Its dashboard is solidly constructed and features lots of chrome and dense plastics that all feel high-quality. The X4’s dash is by no means drab, but you’ll find scratchier plastics than in the Macan and wider panel gaps.

The Macan’s dash isn’t as user-friendly, though. There are simply too many buttons, which makes adjusting, say, the temperature more difficult than it needs to be. The Macan’s touchscreen system is also starting to feel its age, mainly because of its tired graphics and less intuitive interface.

Meanwhile, BMW has kept its climate controls simple and more conveniently positioned higher up on the dashboard, while its standard iDrive infotainment system is far more intuitive.

On the other hand, seeing out of the X4 isn’t quite so easy. While both cars offer a good forward view, the X4’s large rear pillars obstruct more of the over-the-shoulder view than the Macan's.